Regenerative furnace



(No Model.) I I 3 sheets-shet 1. S. T. WELLMAN. REGENERATIVE FURNAGE.

I I I I I l l I I fIIIIIIIIIIIIJI I Patented Apu?, 1896I ANDREWBIGHAHAM, FNUTOMTNUWASHINGTDN. D C.

. I I .NDNI L rII 3 sheets-sheet 2,

(No Model.)

y s. T. WBLLMA'N. REGENERATIVE FURNAGE.

Patented A 117, 1896.

vllll Invent-orf: Y 560m ZT PVeZZr/zan,

Witnesses:

(No MOaeL-y 3 sheets-sheet 34 Y S. T. WELLMAN.

REGENBRATIVE PURNAGE.

No. 557,924..4 Patented Apr. 7,1896.

FIG 3.

l UNirnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL T. VVELLMAN, OF UPLAND, PENNSYLVANIA.

REG EN ERATIVE FU RNACE.v

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,924, dated April 7,1896.

Application filed January 3 l, 1 8 9 5.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that LSAMUEL T. WELLMAN, a citizen of theUnited States, anda resident of Upland, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain Improvements in Regenerative Furnaces, of which the following isa specification.

The object of my invention is to improve the efficiency of regenerativegas-furnaces, an object which I attain by heating the volumes of airemployed before the latter enter the regenerators, employing for thepurpose of such heating the products of combustion which have previouslybeen passed through said regenerators. Y

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a view, partly in section andvpartly in top or plan, of an ordinary form of regenerative gasfurnace towhich my improvements have been applied. Fig. 2 is a sectional view ofthe same on the line 2 2, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on theline 3 3, Fig. 2.

A represents an ordinary open-hearth regenerative gas-furnace of theSiemens type, said furnace having at one end the gas-inlet ports a andair-inlet ports b, and at the opposite end corresponding gas-inlet portsd and air-inlet ports f, the gas-inlet ports a and d communicatingrespectively with gas-regenerators a and d' and the air-inlet ports band f communicating respectively with air-regenerators b and f.

The gas regenerator a communicates through a iiue a2 either with anoutlet-fine g or with a gas-inlet flue a3, communication with either ofthese ,flues being controlled by means of valves c4. In like manner thegasregenerator d communicates through a flue d2 either with anoutlet-flue g' or with a gasinlet flue d3, communication with either ofthese fines being controlled by means of valves d4. The air-regeneratorb communicates through a flue b2 either with the outletflue g or with anair-inlet flue h3, communication with either of these fines beingcontrolled by valves b4, and the air-regenerator f communicates througha flue f2 either with the outlet-flue g or with an air-inlet iiue f3,communication with either of these iiues being controlled by valves f4.This is the ordinary construction of a regenerative gas-furnace, thefurnace being worked iirst in one Serial No. 536,861. (No model.)

direction and then in the opposite direction-- that is to say, the gasand air being iirst forced in through the regenerators a b while theproducts of combustion are escaping through the regenerators d f', andthese conditions being then reversed by suitable manipulation of thevalves a4 b4 d4 f4, so that the gas and air introduced through theregenerators d f and the products of combustion escape through theregenerators a b. Normally, however, the air is not heatedprior toentering its regenerator, and as the gas coming from the producer isusually at a high temperature the result is that the air entering thefurnace is not raised to as high a temperature as the gas, and theair-regenerator cools more rapidly than the gas-regenerator and cannotbe as rapidly reheated as the latter. It will be evident, therefore,that the efficiency of the furnace will be materially increased if theconditions under which both the gas and air regenerators act not only inabsorbing but also in discharging heat are the same, and with the objectof attaining such conditions I provide for heating the supply of airbefore it enters its regenerator, so that when vit enters the same itwill be at substantially the same temperature as the gas entering thegas-regenerator, it being understood that the products of combustionleaving the latter are generally at a higher temperature than that ofthe gas-supply.

Across the discharge-flue h, with which both of the outlet-fines g gcommunicate at the bottom through a flue g2, I place a series of sets oftubes c', which serve to provide a communication between chambers m, m',m2, m3, and m4, formed in the front and rear walls of the base orfoundation of the stack h', a blower n or other blast apparatuscommunieating with the chamber m, while the chamber m4 communicates withthe air-inlet iiues b3 and f3.

The air from the blower passes from the chamber m through the top set offiues into the chamber m', from the latter through the next set of flues7l into the chamber m2, from the latter through the third set of iiuesc' into the chamber 'm3, and from the latter through the bottom set offlues c' into the chamber m4, receiving a constant accession of heat asit descends, owing to the fact that the products IOO of combustion arehottest at the base of the ue h, and gradually decrease in temperatureas they rise, owing to the absorption of heat therefrom.

The chambers m to m4 gradually increase in size and the fines i in thedifferent sets increase in number or area from the upper to the lowerset, so as to provide increased area for the flow of the air as thelatter becomes expanded by heating. Vhile, therefore, the regenerators bf act alternately as absorbers and distributers of heat, the tubes i actas a continuous regenerator-that is to say, they continuously absorbheat from the products of combustion in the discharge-flue 7L andcontinuously distribute the heat .to the air passing through them..

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patenty l. The n lode herein described of operating aregenerative gas-furnace, said mode consisting in raising thetemperature of the air before it enters its heat-distributingregenerator to a high degree of heat approximating that of the gasentering its heat-distributing regenerator, and employing for the pnrpose of thus heating the air the products of combustion escaping fromthe heat-absorbing Vregenerators, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of a regenerative gasfurnace having two pairs of gasand air regenerators constructed for use alternately as absorbers anddistributers of heat, and a single regenerator acting as a continuousabsorber of heat directly from the products of combustion on their wayto the chimney, and a continuous distributer of a high degree of heat tothe air supply on its way to the regenerator, approximating that of thegas entering its heat-distributing regenerator, substantially asspecified.

In testimony whereof l have signed my nameto this speciiication in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

SAMUEL T. WELLMAN. Vi-tnesses:

- WILL A. BARR,

JOSEPH H, KLEIN.

